As part of our efforts to dismantle structural racism and advance equity in social and economic mobility in Greater Hartford’s Black and Latine communities, Greater Hartford Gives supports basic human needs in our region by ensuring food security, reducing homelessness, and expanding access to health care. This work recognizes that longstanding stretched systems and practices are challenged to meet people’s most basic human needs. Through our investments, we have seen that when essential needs are met, our region’s residents are better able to achieve stability and other goals.
We support nonprofits working to reduce homelessness and food insecurity and improve the physical and emotional wellbeing of Greater Hartford residents, prioritizing Black and Latine residents who are disproportionately impacted by structural racism and bias. Our grantmaking helps to strengthen the local and regional safety net and ensure people have the stability necessary to participate in education, the workforce, and their community. We support activities that increase the coordination among basic needs providers, and collaboration with local and state agencies to ensure services are responsive to community needs. .
Many of the foundation’s past and current grants focus on preventing and reducing homelessness in Greater Hartford. Each year, the foundation awards approximately $1 million to local nonprofit organizations that provide access to emergency shelters, warming centers, housing subsidies, case management, eviction prevention, and other services to residents at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
In 2021, the foundation began more fully supporting the mission of homelessness service organizations by offering multiyear core support and program grants. This shift complements our broader investments in homelessness prevention and housing stability and security. The foundation’s portfolio also includes smaller annual emergency assistance grants made to proximate organizations providing urgent food, clothing, financial assistance (i.e., rent and utility expenses) and domestic violence aftercare.
As critical is our support of work to address systemic barriers to quality, stable, affordable housing, including the Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network. Led by Hartford-based, foundation core support grantee Journey Home, the Coordinated Access Network focuses on ensuing homelessness and housing nonprofits and groups work together. To further these efforts, the foundation also supports the policy agenda of the CT CAN End Homelessness (CCEH).
In the past year, Journey Home reported a seven percent increase in homelessness in Greater Hartford. The organization expressed concern that continued inflation in the rental markets and inflation overall combined with reductions to federal benefits programs and federally funded housing programs will continue to challenge household budgets resulting in more people falling into homelessness.
Journey Home also conducted a data analysis on racial/ethnic disparities in 2025 and found that Black/African American individuals were seven times more likely than White individuals to experience homelessness in Greater Hartford. This disparity grew by 21 percentage points from the previous year. Hispanic/Latine individuals were four times more likely than White individuals to experience homelessness in Greater Hartford. This disparity decreased by 24 percent over the previous year.
In 2025, Hartford’s 2-1-1 Information and Referral Service received more than 515,800 calls. From January 1 through November 1, 2025, housing and shelter ranked as the top request category, accounting for 36 percent of all calls. Within this category, requests for information on low-cost housing represented the largest share at 37 percent, followed by requests for shelter bed availability, which made up 25 percent of housing- and shelter-related calls.
Overall, Connecticut’s homelessness response system continues to struggle from inadequate funding as the demand for services continues to rise. According to the 2025 Annual Point-In-Time Count of Individuals and Families Experiencing Homelessness:
- The number of people experiencing homelessness in Connecticut increased by 9.5 percent from 2024 to 2025.
- There was a 45 percent increase in unsheltered homelessness across the state, with 833 people living without shelter in 2025 compared to 574 in 2024.
- While family homelessness and the number of children experiencing homelessness decreased slightly to approximately 590, the number of single adults experiencing homelessness rose by 14 percent.
Despite an increase in state shelter capacity to 3,358 beds in 2025 from 3,227 in 2024, the demand for housing continues to outpace available resources.
Connecticut can effectively employ prevention and diversion strategies to prevent people from becoming homeless, representing the most cost-effective ways to reduce homelessness.
The foundation appreciates that the Governor’s budget includes investments in homelessness and housing stability, reflecting the urgency faced by thousands of Connecticut residents. With rents and housing costs continuing to rise and a 43 percent higher rate of homelessness over the past four years, the foundation asks that the Housing Committee consider amending this proposal with funding to meet the crisis the state now finds itself facing.
According to DataHaven’s 2025 Community Wellbeing Survey, 11 percent of Connecticut adults (more than 300,000) people ran out of money for housing in the past year. Investments in prevention and diversion are the most cost-effective ways to keep people from entering shelter or experiencing homelessness. To this end, we support CCEH’s proposal to invest an addition $10 million in flexible, rapid assistance that keeps households stable, including back rent, security deposits, utility assistance, mediation and tenant legal services, transportation, credit repair, and other short-term supports.
We ask the legislature to support CCEH’s proposal to provide a single, integrated annual investment package of $31.6 million to prevent homelessness, respond to an individual or family crisis, and to support residents in sustaining stable housing.
The funding proposal integrates essential services and staffing supports including the following:
$12.3 million annually to bring people inside during extreme weather. This funding would expand and
annualize extreme weather funding so communities can rapidly open temporary capacity during times of emergency.
$3.5 million annually to stabilize core homelessness prevention services. Connecticut’s homelessness response system relies on providers delivering prevention, diversion, outreach, shelter, and housing-focused services every day. This funding would provide a 7 percent Cost of Living Adjustment to stabilize providers, protect existing capacity, and improve system performance.
$15.8 million annually to expand staffing capacity to meet increased need. These funds would make it possible to respond to the growing demand for staffing to reduce inflow and shorten homelessness to strengthen engagement, increase diversions and placements, and improve housing stability.
$6.2 million in annualized funding for Case Management for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) to stabilize individuals in Permanent Supportive Housing through Connecticut’s Rental Assistance Program (RAP).
In addition to its work around basic human needs, the foundation also focuses on creating thriving neighborhoods. This work recognizes that achieving equity requires strengthening neighborhoods so that opportunity for social connection and economic mobility reaches everyone. This means increasing the number of residents living in quality, affordable housing, and the growth of prosperous, resident-owned small businesses across the region.
In Hartford, Greater Hartford Gives supports increased preservation and development of neighborhood assets such as parks, gardens, and other places where neighbors can gather and connect as well as resourcing activities that bolster a sense of belonging and mutual support among residents. The foundation prioritizes planning and developing solutions that are community-informed or driven and responsive to needs and aspirations that reflect all community members, especially those who face barriers to having a seat at the table.
The foundation also invests in efforts designed to increase the stability, availability, and quality of affordable housing in the Greater Hartford region; align and leverage additional investment in Hartford neighborhoods; and increase the social strength and connectedness of Hartford neighborhoods.
To support these efforts, the Hartford Foundation is a part of the statewide HOMEConnecticut Campaign. Its mission is to ensure everyone in Connecticut has access to safe, stable, accessible, and affordable housing in an equitable community of their choice. The partners of HOMEConnecticut recognize that when people have stable housing, their economic and health outcomes improve.
According to the Partnership for Strong Communities’ The State of Housing in Connecticut 2025 report, rising levels of homelessness, evictions, and households that face foreclosure each year reflect a persistent challenge to housing stability among the state’s most vulnerable residents. Connecticut faces a deep shortfall in rental assistance with approximately 238,180 low and extremely low-income renter households, only about 50,000 receive assistance. This leaves nearly 177,000 eligible households without support.
While the foundation appreciates the Governor’s proposed budget including additional funding to the State Rental Assistance Programto respond to the increase in rental costs, the additional funds do not create opportunities for more households to participate in the program. At a time when tens of thousands of residents are in need of rental assistance in Connecticut, the foundation asks the Committee to invest $50 million in the State Rental Assistance Program to assist 3,400 more households, including people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, and protect households impacted by federal housing policy changes.
Another urgent need requiring additional investment is housing-focused case management that ensures that people can stay housed, including those with disabilities, serious health needs, or long histories of homelessness. To meet this need, the foundation asks the legislature to consider supporting CCEH’s proposed investment of $32.3 million in housing case management to ensure people remain in their homes.
The foundation looks forward to continuing its work with policymakers, nonprofits, philanthropy, government leaders, and residents to develop effective long-term policies that will ensure all Connecticut residents have access to safe, secure, and affordable housing.